Regional urban bus patronage by operator, Queensland
liveOne row per regional urban bus contract area and operator in Queensland outside South East Queensland, with the latitude and longitude of the town and the number of passenger trips in each financial year from 2012/13 to 2022/23. Each financial year is its own column, as the publisher lays it out.
The publisher's notes file on the same page records part-year figures and operator changes.
Also called: Regional Urban Bus Patronage by region and operator, Queensland regional bus passenger numbers, Cairns, Toowoomba and Townsville bus patronage.
- What is in each row?
- Each row is one regional bus contract area outside South East Queensland and its operator, with a point for the town and the number of passenger trips in each financial year from 2012/13 to 2022/23.
- Is there a breakdown by route?
- The publisher also gives one file per contract area with patronage by route. Those files are on the same portal page and are not part of this table.
- Why does a year look low for some areas?
- The publisher's notes record part-year figures and operator changes for some areas, such as a contract that ended or a ticketing problem. Read the Regional Bus Patronage Notes file on the portal page before comparing years.
Made for agents
Connect your AI agent
Any agent that connects to publicdata.au/mcp can find this dataset, read its 15 fields, count and filter across all 18 rows and diff its versions. Every answer names the version and carries Transport and Main Roads's attribution. No key.
Then ask it: What does Regional urban bus patronage by operator, Queensland hold, and what changed in the newest version?
claude mcp add --transport http publicdata https://publicdata.au/mcpOne command. No key, no account, no sign-up.
Settings, then Connectors, then Add custom connector, and paste https://publicdata.au/mcp.
On the web and in the desktop app.
https://publicdata.au/mcpStreamable HTTP. Cursor, VS Code or any client that connects to a remote MCP server.
Using https://publicdata.au/llms.txt, how many people died on Queensland roads in 2025, by month?For an assistant that reads the web and has no connector.
A dashboard over every row. Click to filter, add panels, share a link or embed a frame.
Query APIFilter and count from a URLaggregate?group=region&metric=sum.trips_2022_23
Passenger trips in each regional contract area in 2022/23: 2,720,667 Cairns, 2,315,472 Townsville & Magnetic Island, 841,800 Maryborough & Hervey Bay, 517,382 Toowoomba.
Download it as Excel, CSV, JSON and 9 more formats
Pick a format and a version. Excel is picked first because it opens in the tools most offices have. The URL is yours to keep. A dated version never changes.
In your own tools
Use it in Excel, R, Python and more
Excel and Power BI read the CSV from its address and refresh from it. The R and Python packages take any dataset on this site by its slug, so a new dataset needs no new release. The DuckDB file attaches read-only over HTTPS, and a query reads only the blocks it touches.
The dated URL in the code never changes. https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/latest/ redirects to the newest version.
https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/latest/data.csvIn Excel choose Data, then From Web, and paste this address. Excel keeps it, so Refresh All reads the newest version. A sheet holds about a million rows; past that, load the query to the Data Model.
https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/latest/data.csvIn Power BI Desktop choose Get data, then Web, paste this address and choose Anonymous when asked how to sign in. A scheduled refresh reads the same address, so the report follows each new version.
library(publicdataau)
df <- pd_read("qld-regional-bus-patronage")
pd_attribution(df)install.packages("publicdataau"). pd_read() fetches the version's Parquet file; pd_rows() and pd_aggregate() ask the query API instead, and pd_connect() attaches the DuckDB file.
import publicdata_au as pd_au
df = pd_au.read("qld-regional-bus-patronage")
df.attrs["publicdata"]["attribution"]pip install "publicdata-au[pandas]". read() fetches the version's Parquet file; rows() and aggregate() ask the query API, and connect() attaches the DuckDB file.
INSTALL httpfs; LOAD httpfs;
ATTACH 'https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/v/2023-11-20/data.duckdb' AS qld_regional_bus_patronage (READ_ONLY);
SELECT region, count(*) FROM qld_regional_bus_patronage.records GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 2 DESC;The DuckDB file attaches read-only over HTTPS and only the blocks a query touches are read. Parquet works the same way: FROM read_parquet(url).
const res = await fetch("https://publicdata.au/api/v1/datasets/qld-regional-bus-patronage/aggregate?group=region&metric=sum.trips_2022_23");
const { rows, publicdata } = await res.json();
console.log(rows, publicdata.attribution);The query API answers a page on any site as well as Node, with no key. It returns the rows and the attribution the licence asks for.
What is in it
Column names are made snake_case and the publisher's original header is kept beside each one. Blank cells are null. Nothing is added, removed, ranked or summarised.
| Field | Type | Publisher's header | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| region | string | Region | |
| operator | string | Operator | |
| latitude | number | Latitude | |
| longitude | number | Longitude | |
| trips_2012_13 | integer | 2012/13 | |
| trips_2013_14 | integer | 2013/14 | |
| trips_2014_15 | integer | 2014/15 | |
| trips_2015_16 | integer | 2015/16 | |
| trips_2016_17 | integer | 2016/17 | |
| trips_2017_18 | integer | 2017/18 | |
| trips_2018_19 | integer | 2018/19 | |
| trips_2019_20 | integer | 2019/20 | |
| trips_2020_21 | integer | 2020/21 | |
| trips_2021_22 | integer | 2021/22 | |
| trips_2022_23 | integer | 2022/23 |
Download this table as a data dictionary (Excel), or read it as a Frictionless Table Schema at schema.json. The key is region, operator.
The first 10 rows
From the latest version, in the publisher's order, with every field. A blank cell is shown as null.
| region | operator | latitude | longitude | trips_2012_13 | trips_2013_14 | trips_2014_15 | trips_2015_16 | trips_2016_17 | trips_2017_18 | trips_2018_19 | trips_2019_20 | trips_2020_21 | trips_2021_22 | trips_2022_23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airline Beach & Proserpine | Whitsunday Transit | -20.2694109 | 148.718164 | 322151 | 278790 | 238302 | 227437 | 209380 | 222158 | 211196 | 178949 | 148853 | 168529 | 260617 |
| Bowen | Bowen Transit | -20.012125 | 148.2462901 | 11393 | 7903 | 12703 | 12188 | 14399 | 14788 | 11166 | 9559 | 9516 | 8641 | 8039 |
| Cairns | Kinetic | -16.9206657 | 145.7721854 | 3472136 | 3498599 | 3419197 | 3406852 | 3292316 | 3081618 | 3058957 | 2753101 | 2280348 | 2136546 | 2720667 |
| Bundaberg | Duffy's | -24.8653253 | 152.3516785 | 529758 | 698080 | 645261 | 650380 | 648321 | 646301 | 642887 | 552951 | 527701 | 482005 | 475694 |
| Bundaberg | Stewart & Sons | -24.8653253 | 152.3516785 | 4265 | 14209 | 9091 | 8907 | 8910 | 8208 | 7502 | 7003 | 7225 | 6724 | 7050 |
| Gladstone | CDC Queensland | -23.8431724 | 151.256132 | 142900 | 427798 | 415707 | 393561 | 371216 | 393992 | 404432 | 339863 | 328948 | 303487 | 286478 |
| Sunshine Coast Hinterland | Glasshouse County Coaches | -26.7585572 | 152.8531169 | 52890 | 55028 | 48615 | 49456 | 65095 | 62645 | 57084 | 57175 | 55736 | 38315 | 45247 |
| Innisfail | TransNorth | -17.5241721 | 146.0311418 | 60547 | 48533 | 31169 | 37789 | 39241 | 33367 | 38805 | 81070 | 142098 | 114685 | 115921 |
| Mackay | Mackay Transit | -21.141956 | 149.1865149 | 579116 | 582226 | 588590 | 573655 | 547074 | 529307 | 526286 | 456805 | 419749 | 404803 | 400503 |
| North Stradbroke Island | Stradbroke Island Buses | -27.5647329 | 153.4487382 | 123708 | 162394 | 157116 | 175346 | 191046 | 216115 | 215076 | 200590 | 191333 | 165797 | 223452 |
The first row as JSON
As it appears in data.json.
GET https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/latest/data.json
{
"region": "Airline Beach & Proserpine",
"operator": "Whitsunday Transit",
"latitude": -20.2694109,
"longitude": 148.718164,
"trips_2012_13": 322151,
"trips_2013_14": 278790,
"trips_2014_15": 238302,
"trips_2015_16": 227437,
"trips_2016_17": 209380,
"trips_2017_18": 222158,
"trips_2018_19": 211196,
"trips_2019_20": 178949,
"trips_2020_21": 148853,
"trips_2021_22": 168529,
"trips_2022_23": 260617
}
Query it without downloading
The query API returns only the rows you ask for, as JSON, NDJSON or CSV, from the same typed rows as the files. It needs no key. Build a query here and run it, then copy the URL or the code into your own work.
How filters work
Each filter is field=operator.value in the query string, and every filter must match. A number or date field compares as a number or date, and a text field compares as text. Values are case-sensitive except with ilike. Prefix not. to negate a filter, as not.eq.value.
| Operator | What it matches |
|---|---|
| eq.value | Equal to the value. |
| neq.value | Not equal to the value. A blank cell does not match. |
| gt.value | Greater than the value. |
| gte.value | Greater than or equal to the value. |
| lt.value | Less than the value. |
| lte.value | Less than or equal to the value. |
| like.*text* | Matches a pattern where * stands for any run of characters. Case-sensitive. |
| ilike.*text* | The same as like, ignoring case. |
| in.(a,b,c) | Equal to any value in the list. A value cannot contain a comma. |
| is.null | Blank in the source, or suppressed by the publisher. |
| Parameter | What it does |
|---|---|
| select | Fields to return, comma-separated. Every field when absent. |
| order | field.asc or field.desc, comma-separated. The publisher's row order when absent. |
| limit | Rows per page, 1 to 10,000. 100 when absent. |
| offset | Rows to skip. The next URL in each answer sets it for you. |
| group | On aggregate, fields to group by, comma-separated. |
| metric | On aggregate, count, sum.field, avg.field, min.field or max.field, comma-separated. count when absent. |
| format | json, ndjson or csv. JSON carries the provenance header, and the others carry it in response headers. |
Without a version the API answers from the newest loaded version, and that answer changes when the publisher releases again. Put versions/<date>/ before rows or aggregate for an answer that never changes. /api/v1/datasets/<slug>/versions lists the loaded versions. The 1 newest version is loaded; versions lists them.
The API allows 60 requests in 10 seconds from one address. Above that it answers 429 for 10 seconds with a Retry-After header, a RateLimit-Policy header and a JSON body that gives the limit. Every API answer carries the same RateLimit-Policy. A client should wait the Retry-After seconds, or read the files, which have no limit. openapi.json describes this dataset's query paths for client generators and agents.
https://publicdata.au/mcp is a remote MCP server over Streamable HTTP with the same tools, defined in the same place, so a tool added to the pages is added here too. It needs no key and no account. The row tools are held to the query API's limit of 60 queries in 10 seconds from one address, and each call is two queries because it also counts the matching rows. Add it to Claude Code with claude mcp add --transport http publicdata https://publicdata.au/mcp, add the URL in Claude as a custom connector, or give it to any client that connects to remote MCP servers. Each queryable dataset is also a resource at https://publicdata.au/d/<slug>/fields.json, which lists its fields with their types, the publisher's descriptions, their ranges and the values they hold, so an agent can read a dataset's shape before it writes a query.
What changed
One version for every release the publisher has made since this site started following the dataset. The date is the day the file changed on the portal.
- 2023-11-20 18 rows15 fieldsutf-8-sigc424cc4a6527
versions.json · changes.json · history.tar.zst (6.0 KB, every version's Parquet and manifest)
Questions
How do I download Regional urban bus patronage by operator as a CSV file?
Open https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/latest/data.csv. It redirects to the newest dated version, which is https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/v/2023-11-20/data.csv today. The same path serves Excel, JSON, GeoJSON, Parquet, SQLite, DuckDB, GeoPackage, GeoParquet, NDJSON, Arrow. A dated URL never changes, so use it when the file must stay the same.
Can I open Regional urban bus patronage by operator in Excel?
Yes. https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/v/2023-11-20/data.xlsx is a workbook with the 18 rows on a records sheet, the field list on a second sheet and the provenance on a third. The CSV also opens in Excel. https://publicdata.au/d/qld-regional-bus-patronage/v/2023-11-20/data.csv.gz is the CSV at about a tenth of the size.
What years does Regional urban bus patronage by operator cover?
The current version covers the years since 2012. Each release from Transport and Main Roads becomes a new dated version here, and earlier versions stay online.
How often is Regional urban bus patronage by operator updated?
Transport and Main Roads releases it annually, last updated for 2022/23. This site checks the portal every week and adds a dated version when the file changes.
Can I use Regional urban bus patronage by operator commercially?
Yes. CC BY 3.0 AU allows commercial use, redistribution and derived works as long as the attribution is kept. The attribution string is in this page's side column and inside every file.
Is this the official source for Regional urban bus patronage by operator?
No. The publisher is Department of Transport and Main Roads, and its page is https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/qconnect-urban-bus-patronage. This site republishes the publisher's file without changing its content. The original sits beside every version as source.csv with its SHA-256, so the two can be compared.
What coordinate system does Regional urban bus patronage by operator use?
The publisher names no datum. The coordinates are decimal degrees for the town, read as WGS84 (EPSG:4326) and published as given. The GeoJSON file uses the same coordinates, which is what GeoJSON expects.
What this site did to the data. Cells were typed, headers were renamed and the encoding was made UTF-8. Rows were left alone. The publisher's file sits beside every version as source.csv so the change can be checked.